Distance Education & Learning Technologies

Distance Learning at DSU

Some of the courses you will take at DSU use the web-based learning management system called Blackboard. There are three types of courses offered using Blackboard:

Web-enhanced courses. Although all of your class sessions are conducted in a classroom here on the campus your professor will use one or more aspects of Blackboard to distribute content or to conduct various learning activities.

Blended learning courses.Instead of always meeting in the classroom, your professor will substitute some of the scheduled class time for online activities (i.e. online discussions, lectures, exams and assignments).

Online distance education courses. For this type of course, you will NEVER meet in a classroom on campus with your professor. Through Blackboard, your professor will provide you with a syllabus, list of required textbooks, lectures and details of course assignments. You will submit your assignments and participate in discussions with both your professor and classmates online through Blackboard.

Blackboard now has the Community Engagement Feature which makes organizations now available in Blackboard Learn. Organizations in Blackboard Learn contain content and tools to keep you informed and in touch with other members of your organization. An organization looks exactly like a course, including:

• A menu similar to the course menu
• A home page
• Tools similar to a course's tools, like announcements and discussions

To request an organization in Blackboard, please complete the Request Organization in Blackboard form[2]. Upon approval and completion, a confirmation email will be sent to the requestor with further information and details. For Student Organizations, the campus advisor MUST be the requestor and a leader in the organization.

I logged in but I have a course not showing or a course that needs to be removed.

Blackboard and Banner are now connected (as of Fall 2013) and you do not need to contact our office. The system will automatically update Blackboard with your courses from Banner. The updates occur several times during the day. Any course changes in Banner should be automatically reflected on Blackboard within 24 hours.

How do I register for an online class?

You register the same way you register for traditional classes — through Banner. Simply go to myDESU[5] and log-in. The only difference is that in the course schedule listing, online courses have a section 40-49 and will be labeled as an online course. Once registered, your classes are automatically loaded onto Blackboard (within 24 hours) and you can access them by logging into Blackboard using your student email username and password as described above.

Unable to log-in? For log-in assistance, please contact the IT Help Desk at (302) 857-7028 or stop by their office located in the BOA building, Room 313. For all other issues with Blackboard, please contact our office atblackboard@desu.edu[6]or stop by our office in EH 205.